Thoughts from the interface of science, religion, law and culture

After spending several years touring the country as a stand up comedian, Ed Brayton tired of explaining his jokes to small groups of dazed illiterates and turned to writing as the most common outlet for the voices in his head. He has appeared on the Rachel Maddow Show and the Thom Hartmann Show, and is almost certain that he is the only person ever to make fun of Chuck Norris on C-SPAN.

EVENTS

Murdering Fullerton Cop Wants His Job Back

One of the two cops who killed a homeless man on video and then was incredibly acquitted by a jury of doing so says he wants his job back with the city of Fullerton, California. And he’ll probably get it, if not with Fullerton then with another city.

A day after being found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter and excessive force in the death of Kelly Thomas, Jay Cicinelli told the Orange County Register he wants to return to his former job and will take the legal steps necessary to try to make that happen.

Cicinelli, 41, was fired in July 2012, about a year after his involvement in the July 5, 2011, confrontation between Thomas and police officers at the Fullerton Transportation Center that resulted in Thomas’ death.

Cicinelli and Manuel Ramos, the other former officer found not guilty Monday, were terminated close to 10 months after being criminally charged by District Attorney Tony Rackauckas.

The former corporal will state his case in front of an arbitrator, who will then make a recommendation to the city on whether to hire him back, he said. A lawsuit is a possible if arbitration is unsuccessful.

If Fullerton doesn’t hire him back, some other city almost certainly will. And if that fact doesn’t anger you, it damn well should.

Comments

This fact doesn’t anger me. If he wants his job back and the city doesn’t give it to him, he can sue for wrongful termination since he’s considered innocent of the fact for which they fired him.
So what does anger me? That he got acquitted at all.

The only way out of this for the city is if the arbitrator would consider the relationship between employer and employee irreparably damaged. In which case I expect the arbitrator to determine that the city has to pay a tidy sum since they were the ones being wrong when firing him.

Living in the city mentioned above I can tell you there will be an uproar if he gets his job back. It saddens me that a man died at the hands of our police. Our city has been run by an Old Boy network of ex police for way too long. The only thing they are interested in is feathering their own nests. Hence all the bars downtown (voted in by the city council over the last few years ) which guarantee the need for police. There needs to be No more ex police on the city council or police backed council members.
The police say they want to be “trusted” again but if this man gets his job back the newly built trust will be meaningless.

@Robert B.(#3): That is what I expect to be one of the arguments of the the city, at least if they don’t want him back on the force. Which I doubt seeing what lulu wrote.
Cicinelli on the other hand is going to try and claim his firing is based on something he didn’t do.
In the end I expect him to walk away with his salary from the moment he was fired till the end of the arbitration and compensation for being fired. This money most likely being the reason he is demanding his job back.